Shelton fire official's brother focus of arson investigation

Published 11:09 pm, Wednesday, November 24, 2010

SHELTON -- The relative of a high-ranking Shelton fire official is the prime suspect in a set trash bin fire behind the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley on Sept. 13.

The 9 p.m. incident was caught on videotape and the tape was handed over to police to aid in their investigation of the fire.

"We are investigating the incident," Detective Ben Trabka said Wednesday. He declined to go into detail about the charges involved or confirm the identity of the suspect.

But sources within the fire department say the suspect, a longtime volunteer firefighter, is the brother of a city fire official.

Trabka said the fire was set and that "we are wrapping up our investigation and plan to apply for an arrest warrant."

Francis Jones, who was the city's fire chief when the incident happened, said a witness approached the incident commander at the fire scene and told him it was started by a firefighter.

"I immediately contacted the police chief and an investigation was started by the Shelton detective bureau," said Jones, whose last day as fire chief was Saturday. He said because a city firefighter was allegedly involved in setting a fire, he wanted the incident to be investigated "thoroughly."

Meanwhile Jack Ribas, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, said he doesn't know much about the investigation.

He said police came to the clubhouse, at One Positive Place, the day after the incident.

"We have the parking lot monitored," he said, adding they looked at the videotapes from the time of the fire. "They took a copy of the tape," Ribas said.

He said the fire was contained to the trash bin that's used "just for cardboard."

"It was in an isolated area and the closest thing to it was another Dumpster," he said, adding there was little chance of the fire spreading to the clubhouse building.

Ribas added there was no one inside the building at the time.

"We had just closed up for the night," he said, adding the fire was spotted by a neighbor who called 911.